Saturday, April 24, 2010

Thursday, April 22, 2010

We're experiencing some slight technical difficulties with citypaper.net today, so I decided to throw this post — originally meant for Meal Ticket — up here for the time being.

Pete Langway, one of five owners of Brooklyn's Barcade, just called Meal Ticket with a few preliminary details on the Philly location the partners have planned.

The project, first noted by Brownstoner Philly yesterday, will bring the Barcade concept to a space at 1114 Frankford Avenue in Fishtown. "Philly was a no-brainer for us," says Langway, whose first experience with the 'hood was taking in a show at Johnny Brenda's. "A lot of people come into Barcade in Brooklyn [and say], "It would be great to have a Barcade in my town,' including people from Philadelphia. He cites Fishtown and Williamsburg's comparable DNA and Philly's burly craft beer scene as the main factors influencing his team's decision to come to the city.

A handful of folks in the neighborhood zoning meeting held earlier this week had heard of the concept, which brings together all-American craft beer list (all draft, no bottles) and '80s video games. (Numbers-wise, Langway ballparks that they'll pour 25 beers — 24 on tap, one cask — and stock about 30 games.) This Frankford Avenue space is slightly larger than Barcade's OG digs, and there's an adjacent lot that's included in the property that Langway says will be used as a small beer garden-type seating area.

Philadelphians excited about this project should note that this is a ways off — when asked to guesstimate an opening month for Barcade Philly, Langway didn't have an answer. "It's literally so early in the process that we don't know," he says. "I couldn't even give you a date. However long it takes."